First Adventure
by Kittey Rin
Summary: How did the Mauraders get their nicknames? How did Lupin feel when he went through his transformation? Did they, on their first adventure, just explore or did they get into mischeif? Let the adventure begin!


A/N: This is just an idea I came up with one night. A while ago. Anyway, this is told from Lupin's point of view for the first part, and then it's Moony. You'll find out in a minute.

Key :blah blah blah: is Sirius and /blah blah blah: is James and :Blah blah blah/ is Peter and /blah blah blah/ is Lupin

* * *

I jumped, startled, when I felt a hand lay on my shoulder. I turned to see Madame Pomfrey, the resident nurse, looking at me. 

"It's time," she told me.

_That's right, _I thought._ Tonights the full moon. _Gathering my homework, I quickly stuffed it into my bag. I really hated this part of my life, but there was nothing I could do about it. Life is life, after all, and all I could do is live life as best I could. Even if I was a werewolf.

Giving my bag to Madame Pomfrey, I took the blanket she offered me. Wrapping it around my shoulder, I scowled. I really was not looking forward to tonight. Pain, pain and more pain to look forward to. Who in their right mind _would_ like to spend an entire night feeling as though your body was being ripped to shreds?

Madame Pomfrey and I began walking. It was the same trail every month.

She met me in the library, where I went to get away from my friends. They were great friends, really, except that they could be very nosy at times. Already, a year ago, they had been close to discovering my illness. I knew that if Sirius, James and Peter found out about my being a werewolf, I would be in a lot of trouble. At best, I would be friendless again. At worst, I would be ratted out, expelled, homeless and unemployed for the rest of my days. I didn't want that to happen.

After meeting her in the library, we walked down the same hall we were going through now. I looked at the, by now, familiar paintings. I smiled as we passed by Sir Cadogan, sitting in the portrait of three young tavern maidens. I snickered as Sir Cadogan, completely drunk by now, tripped over an invisible stone while singing 'We three kings'. How he learned a muggle christmas carol, and why he was singing it in the middle of autumn, was beyond my knowledge.

"Mr. Lupin, I would be much oblidged if you would hurry up. There's only ten more minutes until moon-rise." Madame Pomfrey waited until I shuffled up to her before continuing her brisk trot to the Whomping Willow.

As we came out of the entryway, Sir Cadogan's singing still echoing in the tall chamber, a cool breeze whipped past me. I took a deep breath in the early evening, glad to be outside. I loved Hogwarts, I really did, but the outdoors were just more appealing to my soul. This had nothing to do with the fact of being a werewolf, but the fact that I lived a lot of my life playing outside and just enjoying Mother Nature's company. I was always a lonely child, so I was surprised at how fast I made friends at Hogwarts.

I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking and tripped over a tree root. I caught my balance just before I fell onto the cold and damp earth, and heard Madame Pomfrey's annoyed grunt. I felt, more than saw, Madame Pomfrey grab my arm. It was very dark without the moon, but I knew it wouldn't be soon. Already I could feel the changes come upon me.

We came upon the Whomping Willow. The only way that I was able to tell this fact was because of the increased breeze and the creaking of the branches. I heard a whipping noise of a branch slicing through the air as Madame Pomfrey took out her wand and used it to cast the spell that froze the Willow's movements. The air stilled and became silent. Madame Pomfrey hustled me through the hole by the tree's roots and through the dark tunnel.

I danced over the uneven floor, having long ago memorized where the holes and divets were on the path. Clutching the blanket closer to myself, I shivered. It was an unusually cold night, made even colder by being surrounded on all sides with wet mud walls. The transformation was urging me to move faster, and Madame Pomfrey must have noticed. She stopped.

"Mr. Lupin, I'm sure you know the rest of the way. Am I correct?" At my nod, she took the blanket. "Then hurry and get there quickly." With that, she turned and scurried back the way we had just come, leaving me and my thoughts in the darkness. I continued forward.

I knew she would get out in time. It took a while for the transformation to complete itself, and by then the Whomping Willow would be active again. I gritted my teeth as a burning sensation swept through my back. I knew I had to hurry and I began to run down the path.

Left, right, right again, left again, I made my way down the tunnel. Finally, after what couldn't have been more that a few minutes, I saw the small beam of light that signaled the end of the tunnel. Bracing myself for what I knew was about to happen, I threw open the trap door into the Shrieking Shack and scrambled up into the moonlight.

Pain laced through my body. Agonizing pain. It was like living a nightmare, yet ten times worse. I screamed and howled as I felt my spine twist and crack. Bending down, I began to rip at the scattered furniture with my newly-transformed steel-like nails. Fur the color of steel began to grow on my arms.My jaw elongated and produced a wolf-like snarl. I threw my head back and screamed as my tail came out and my pants shredded. Snarling, fangs replaced teeth. I wanted this to be over with, wanted my pain to go away.

Then, abruptly, my torture ended and I drifted into blissful darkness.

* * *

I wearily opened my eyes to the peircing moonlight. Was it that time already? My freedom? 

I stood on my four paws and shook out my silky grey fur. Silver was a closer description, though, as my fur became waves of molten metal in the pale moonlight. Yawning, my large and very deadly fangs glinting in sliver of light penetrating the boarded up windows, I surveyed the damage. Not a bad job, for a human.

I was always one for destruction and chaos. My human counterpart -Looney? Loopy? Ah, Lupin-and I were two different beings that shared the same vessal. I don't think either of us really understood what happened during the full moon. All I knew for sure was that he had reign of our body every day and night except nights like tonight. Tonight was my time, my sanctuary.

Every full moon it was the same. He would always block me out from his awareness part, and I would block him out of mine. However, through the magic that bound us to the same body, we both received scattered and blurred thoughts of our activities. It made for a pretty odd relationship. After all, who knew it could be so entertaining to see a grumpy old professor one minute, and a kid being tormented the next? It was drop dead hilarious, that's what!

I sat on my rump and scratched an annoying flea on my neck. How I got fleas and he didn't was a rip off. Besides not being able to eat raw meat, restricted from running around till I could just drop and forbidden marking my territory, my having fleas and him not was completely unfair and a violation to werewolves everywhere! I mean, if one of us got parasites, so should the other!

Then again, I never got sick...

I finally got rid of the vermin and decided to settle in to take a nap. There was really nothing I could do; I had no urge to bay at the moon, and Loopy did a number on the rooms already. No, today I would just relax. Take a breather. Call in-

A noise caught my attention. It sounded like whispering, but I couldn't be sure. I decided to investigate.

I padded over to the trap door that I had discovered the first time I awoke here. I snuffled the opening. Interesting. There was a distinct odor of cheese and wet...something or other. Very interesting. Why, I hadn't smelled these scents since Mr. Whiskers dropped dead in Mr. Bubbles' food dish in the middle of a rainstorm.

A small, grey rat popped out and scared me out of my memories of prowling muggle London. I jumped back and took a defensive stance, spreading my paws over a large area to insure balance, raising my tail and back hair, and baring my teeth in a snarl. Apparently the rat paid me no heed, for then a great, black, grim-like dog and a majestic dusty-colored stag burst through the hole. Talk about keen senses.

I kept my guard up even as they began to look around. The stag sent some signal to the dog and they both turned towards me. Then the dog spoke...sorta.

He approached me slowly and cautiously. His head was down, and he was shuffling. When he neared me, he rolled over and bared his neck. It took a minute for me to realize that he was submitting to me. Asking to join my group. My pack.

To say I was surprised was an understatement. Every werewolf was created knowing the history of their kind. There was never, in all of the three thousand or so years of our breeds existence, a pack led by werewolves. Or even one werewolf. I really didn't know what to do.

The dog wuffed impatiently. I shook my head to rid myself of some confusion and slowly stood. Walking, I circled him and began to sniff. He smelled very interesting. A mix of burning and excitement. Pretty attractive, for another male. If there were female wolves around, they would leave my pine and grassy outdoor smell in favor of his very indoor-sy smell. Something to consider when deciding if I should take his offer. If I let him off, he could easily get the better breeders.

Finishing my examination, I decided that it would benefit me better is I had him as a pack-mate. Walking back over to his head, where his eyes were watching my every move and his ears flat atop his head, I pushed my nose into his cheek-fur and gave him a friendly lick. He seemed very happy about that, for he then jumped up and began to prance around me. Getting quickly annoyed, I gave a curt bark. He responded by laying down, his tail wagging like there was no tomorrow.

I heard movement again, and the temproarily forgotten rat and stag also struck submitting poses. I was a little more apprehensive about them, and took a much longer time about choosing them. After all, who had ever heard of a wolf pack consisting of anything non-canine?

Then again, there was the 'no werewolve pack' issue...

I finally decided that a pack was a pack, even if the members were...meatier than I first anticipated. After accepting each, there was a blinding flash of gold light. It made me very dizzy, and I was beginning to feel ill. The fact that I hadn't the slightest idea how being ill felt didn't cross my mind.

Somehow, all four of us were thrown against the wall and knocked out. When I woke up, I barked once. A squeak, bark and much shuffling answered my call. After a second, bruises and pulled muscles in my jaw began to make themselves known. I knew then and there that Looney would be sore tomorrow...

:Moony:

I spun around to find the speaker. It was a gruff and hoarse and echoed badly in my head.

/Funny pack-leader.: a slightly higher voice said, the voice full of laugh and mirth.

:Yes. Funny pack-leader./ This was an pitiful, squeaky voice.

I stumbled and fell. I could understand them? Weird. I figured that it must've been a side effect of the magic that bound me to Lupin.

:Moony: the harsh voice questioned again.

/Who/ I sent. In answer, I received an image of the black dog. Apparently, not only could we send short, to-the-point sentences, but also images.

/Pack-leader Moony: This time I recieved an image of the stag. I was beginning to catch on to the way the images flashed and sending words.

Well, this was getting easier and easier. I decided to find out their names. /Names/ I mind-asked.

They glanced at each other before answering.

/Prongs: The stag shook its velvety horns.

:Wormtail/ The rat flicked its snake-like tail.

The rat and stag began to argue as the dog lifted a paw.

:Padfoot.: The dog was wearing a very canine grin. :Pack-leader Moony.:

I guessed then that they had heard my Loony remark and thought I had said Moony. Well, I supposed I should just go with the flow. I nodded.

They all looked to me, the rat -Wormtail- and stag -Prongs...I made a mental note to remember their names- stopping their argument. I decided to make a suggestion. /Outside/

They all gave a cry of happiness and I got many messages of a job well done. Whatever I did, I never found out.

I led the way down the tunnel. I didn't stop to smell any of the interesting scents, even though this was the first time I had smelled a few of them. They trailed directly behind me.

We broke the surface at the roots of the Willow. It began to thrash and attack. I swiftly dodged the branches and landed outside of the branches' attack ranges. The others were still at the base of the tree. I motioned for them to follow me, and the rat scurried up the trunk to hit a knot. The tree froze. I stumbled and fell sprawl-eagled. The others trotted out towards me as I picked myself up.

I began to jog towards the woods. It seemed the most interesting object on the grounds. We entered the woods, none of the others hesitating before entering.

The scents assulted my nose in an all out battle. I could hear Padfoot sniffing around eagerly. We began to explore, none of us straying far and all of us curious about this strange new place.

I was following a particularily interesting scent trail when Prongs sent a message to request my presence. I reluctantly left the trail and met him by a thorny bush. He motioned to the clearing beyond after the others cam up behind me.

There was a herd of centaurs standing in the clearing. The only reason I knew they were centaurs was because of Loony's references in the back of his mind. They were staring at the sky, eyes glossed over and standing completely still. The breeze that had been blowing froze in its tracks, afraid to disturb the scene. I looked up at the area I thought they were looking at and could find nothing of interest. Why a herd of horse-humans would find a bunch of skylights interesting was beyond me.

Someone, I couldn't tell who, sent me an image. It was a request, but I didn't know how I knew it was. The image itself was very entertaining. It consisted of the centaurs being chased by we four. It seemed very fun, so I gave the okay.

I was watching and waiting for some sign from the centaurs. After a few minutes of nothing, I was just going to give the others the okay and charge. But one centaur spoke.

He was a red-coated stallion. He harbored a red goatee and was very muscular. He wore no shirt, unlike the others, and a copper necklace. I could not see the design, but it was very thick and heavily carved. When he spoke, his voice was a cool tenor. "Mars is bright tonight..."

I gave the others the okay and we charged.

We startled all of them, and began to chase them around the clearing. They were all stallions and could have taken us easily; that is, if they had not been such cowards. They were running and screaming individually, like they were following the 'Every man for himself' rule. The weren't even trying to hit us with their extremely sharp and dangerously hard hooves. It was like they were chicken's that had survived having their heads brutally cut off.

We chased them around in circles, the larger of us snapping at their heels, and, in the case of Wormtail, crawling up their hocks slowly and very deliberately. They would then scream like young maidens and trip over invisible stones trying to flee the strange and creepy feeling.

After about a half hour, we got bored and decided to skip off. We galloped off, but not before we had cause a seven-centaur pile-up. That, I knew, Loony would remember. I would make sure of it!

We decided to continue deeper in the forest, traveling single file in order of heirarchy. I, as alpha male, naturally went first. Because he was accepted second, Padfoot had become the beta male and went second. Prongs and Wormtail traveled at the back, Wormtail having staken claim to Prong's nose. They, as omega males, were consider weaker than I and my beta partner and so they got last pick in anything. Including traveling view.

We were getting very bored, very quickly. Wormtail and Prongs had taken to arguing about a map, and Padfoot was humming a song he had heard, according to him, over muggle radio last summer.

We heard rustling in the bush. I stopped, as did Padfoot, but Prongs wasn't watching where he was going and so he ran into Padfoot. Padfoot growling a warning. He was interrupted by a person, or persons, singing with in heavily accented english.

The song itself was interesting. When we first heard him, he was singing something along the lines of 'Feliz Navidad'. That was all I could understand before his accent cut in so much that it was indestinguishable from any other language I have ever heard.

The rustling grew louder, and out from the brush stepped a kneazle. He was a lot like what muggles think of when they hear the word 'lynx'. Except for a few differences.

This kneazle, like others, had more of a lion tail. It had a few strips along said tail, and also on the front right leg. I couldn't entirely remember what kneazles were supposed to look like, but I don't think that they were supposed to be red and orange. His stripes and spots were the color of an orange rind on a rusty surface. His black, glossy eyes were full of life and humor. The tufts on the top of his ears bobbed with the motion of his little dance, swaying when he sidestepped and jumping as he performed some fancy footowork that would have been hard for a human, let alone a two and a half foot feline.

"Hola, mes amigos!" it purred. We all jumped, Wormtail falling off of his post. None of us were prepared for a dancing hispanic kneazle, let alone one that could actually talk!

I decided to take up talking with him. /Who/

The feline looked at me. "Ah, a werely-wolf." Padfoot snickered. The kneazle, when he had prenounced his R's, had rolled them longer then a normal hispanic would've. It made for an...interesting sentence.

The kneazle bent one paw in a sweeping motion. "I am the great Fredrick Tori Ronaldo Horton Bernardo Larry Harry Rett Rocky Bud."

We all kept laughing, but apparently the kneazle wasn't done speaking.

"Mes amigos call me Bud, ah, only because they have not respect for the lovely name of a regal feline of the highest standards. Who might you be, my ridiculously random ruffians?"

Calming down, I was able to send him our names and images of our appearences. Then I let myself fall again to the hilarious situation with Bud.

Bud sat and began to ramble on about himself. "I not always having ten names, oh no. My mamma call me Roberto after my three times great-grandpapa. My great-great-great-granpapa had been taken by Old Rosmarta as a roamy-ing rabbit hunter. I thought my name was, how you say, muy mal. So, I come to Dumbly-doore and say 'Hola! I would like to purrrrrr-chase a acre of woody land for my family'. Of course, I have no family. But he no know that. So, Dumbly-doore, he ask me my name. I say 'Great senior, I am Fredrick Tori Ronaldo Horton Bernardo Larry Harry Rett Rocky Bud'. See, my great-great-great-great-relatives were named with those names, and I say 'Okay, Roberto, if you man, not mouse, it time for your own choices!"

Calming down, I signaled that we should begin to head back. Standing, we all began to tread back down the way we had come, the others still snickering and sending images back and forth.

Bud began to bound after us. "Wait, seniors! Wouldn't you like to play game? Like Red Rover? Red rover, red rover, send Prongs-y right over!"

I growled when he approached my side. He fell back and began to mutter. I caught things like 'ruffians' and '_loco perritos'_ . I ignored him and continued walking.

We walked back slowly. It was a quiet journey and not much happened...until we were almost out.

We had been walking in single file again, when a bird flitted in front of me and ran into my nose.

"Where is it? Where did it go, where did it go?" it said quickly, flitting back and forth in my view. I followed it with my head, and soon became increasingly dizzy. Shutting my eyes tightly, the sound of wings became closer and closer. When I opened them, the golden creature was in my face and screamed 'BOO!', causing me to jump back, trip over Padfoot, run into Prongs and fall onto Wormtails bald tail.

I growled at it, and it growled back. I blinked and cocked my head to the side. It copied me.

I would later learn that it was a snidget, but at the time I thought it was annoyingly cute. It was about the size of a walnut, and lad a hummingbird structure for the wings and beak. It was gold in color and the last light from the moon glinted on it's feathers in just the right way to make it look like it's own miniature sun.

It reminded me of a dog, more than anything. It copied everything I did, and caused the others to once again break into almost-hysterics. I was not amused, so I began to leave. It followed. I growled. It growled back. I gave up and trotted to the Whomping Willow.

Deciding how to get it, Wormtail ran past me and pressed the magical knot. The tree froze again, and I trotted to the roots. Wormtail ran back to the others, and we all said our goodbyes. Boo, the snidget, was still following me.

:Next moon: Padfoot inquired. I nodded, and they trotted off towards the school.

Boo and I wandered down the tunnel. Left, right, right, left...I had to gallop quickly because the transformation was coming up quickly.

We entered the house again just as the sun's rays sifted through the boarded up windows. The sun hit me, and I sighed. My transformation wasn't nearly as bad as I knew Loony's was. Mine was almost like someone with really rough hands giving you a massage on all of your nerves. Tingly and odd, but not painful.

The Transformation almost done, Boo settled on my almost-human body. Later, Madame Pomfrey would come to give Loony a change of clothing. But for now, he had a few images to sort through.

After all, he was my landlord. I had to somehow let him know what I was up to, otherwise he might get annoyed. I let some of the nights memories leak through our little link, and the last thing I felt before becoming dormant was surprise and humor.

At least now I knew that boredom would never be a problem. I drifted into darkness.

* * *

End Oneshot

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Any comments? Questions? What did you think? Please Review! 


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